


Close Watch

by creepy_shetan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Community: tfa_kink, Gen, Injury Recovery, M/M, No Dialogue, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 17:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7942474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creepy_shetan/pseuds/creepy_shetan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Although he'd been ordered to save Kylo Ren's life, General Hux decided to oversee the man's battle wound recovery all on his own. Set after <i>Episode VII</i>.</p><p>(Originally posted 2016/1/9 as a fill for a prompt.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Watch

Kylo Ren's body healed quickly. Miraculously, General Hux thought to himself.

Ever since abandoning -- _fleeing_ \-- the Starkiller base, Hux had been keeping a close eye on the knight. He had stayed by Ren's side in the little vessel to the Star Destroyer. He had watched the medic that he had dragged along -- that he had saved from certain death -- assess Ren's wounds and get to work on cleaning and dressing them. The worst one, a bowcaster shot to Ren's left side, was exposed and covered first. The image of its rough angry edges and piercing depth lingered in his mind. Hux's gaze kept floating back to it on its own, even as he closely watched the medic tend to lightsaber burns and then smaller cuts and bruises. The slash mark across Ren's face turned out to be shallower than it looked but would probably still leave a scar.

Later, Hux had been present when Ren was able to get the best medical attention on the ship. It was only there, in an infirmary bed, that the knight regained consciousness. His eyes were unfocused and his jaw clenched with the pain, but he didn't make a sound other than a tiny wheeze under his uneven breaths. After that, he seemed to actually sleep, however Hux wasn't sure how restful it could have been. The general had been told that Ren had hypothermia, which causes confusion, and that Ren had lost a good amount of blood. He had suspected as much, considering the spasm-like shivering and unnatural paleness he had seen. He didn't know how long Ren had been lying in the snow, but the patch of red around him and the spotted trail leading away was hard to forget. Really, all he _needed_ to verify with an expert was that neither problem was severe, and someone was quick to confirm that.

Over the next few days, Hux insisted on being there -- _commanded_ to be notified -- whenever Ren's bandages were changed. He wanted to see the progress for himself, not hear or read about it from a report. Besides, he could always check charts and test results later. Ren made no attempt to hide how much this personal touch displeased him, in both his face and in his words, but Hux had seen far worse reactions from the man and was completely unfazed. In fact, it made him more persistent, because it meant that Ren was not back to his full strength even in intimidation. He made Ren grow used to seeing him, not really caring if Ren wanted the company or not. Even after Ren left the infirmary and resumed his physical and mental training, Hux made it a point to check in on the knight like he would with his squads. Hux never disturbed Ren with words, only watching for a short time and then leaving him to his solitude.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months.

Hux knew that Ren's Starkiller injuries were little more than scars now. He still, on occasion, couldn't stop the image of the wounds being raw and bleeding from entering his mind, however. He had also somehow, consciously or not, avoided having to land on planets or moons with snowy terrain. He was fairly certain that Ren had avoided such places as well.

Ren was speaking to the general more now -- more freely, not just when necessary or when in the mood to vent. His destructive rampages had also lessened, or rather, they had changed. His anger would be more concentrated but the displays of it would be shorter and fewer. It continued to drive others on the ship away, but Hux felt he could tolerate it better than before. 

What was less tolerable was the fact that Ren never once showed a glimpse of himself under the layers of black to Hux again. The helmet remained in place even when they were alone giving oral reports to their leader. It was possibly payback for his exposure while recovering. Only a handful of people on the ship knew what Ren looked like, but that probably caused the total number of people in the First Order who knew to double.

Then came a day when Ren had barely managed to return to the ship. He had been scuffed on missions before of course, but this time his injuries were the most serious he had suffered since Starkiller. Hux had immediately left his post to be the first to greet Ren after his little vessel had docked. Ren had just stared at him for a short stretch, and then he was quickly stalking across the hangar, not needing to turn to see that Hux was following closely behind him. At least his long legs appeared to be working just fine.

They abruptly stopped in a short hallway a couple of minutes later. Hux ordered the Stormtrooper escort present to continue on without them, his eyes never leaving Ren's back. He could smell the blood from where he stood, and he could feel his gut clench in reaction. He told Ren to come with him, and to his surprise the knight slowly turned around and followed. He hadn't spoken a word yet to the general and had no reason to speak to anyone of a lower rank.

Hux led them to his own private quarters, since they were closer than Ren's or any that were currently vacant. Ren's silence continued as they entered, even when Hux locked the door behind them. He simply stood in the middle of the entry room, which served as something like a study, and waited. He knew he was in no position to judge, what with over ninety percent of those under his command always in faceless uniforms, but Hux had always especially hated the helmets worn by the Knights of Ren, and never more so than in that moment. He was glaring at it, he knew, and decided to ignore the damn thing for now. 

His eyes drifted over Ren's form, noting darkened areas that looked to be soaked from the outside instead of the inside. Then, without asking for permission, Hux started to push aside the loose black fabric around his neck and shoulders. When he spotted the first wound through a part-cut-part-burned hole high on Ren's chest, blood matting the edges to skin, he paused. Then he was yanking off his gloves and throwing them aside, not caring where they landed. His pale fingers moved cloth slowly and carefully but without hesitation.

Ren was perfectly still, and frankly Hux was in shock that he was being allowed to do this at all. Even pushing the cloak part of the hood off Ren's shoulders did nothing to spark a retaliation -- or _any_ visible reaction, really. In fact, it was Hux who tried not to hiss through his teeth when a deeper wound was revealed on the same side as the first, at the end of Ren's collar bone near his shoulder. The position made Hux wonder at the mobility in Ren's arm and that thought made him furious. Hux couldn't even crack a snide remark about Ren getting himself into another duel, because _no one in their right mind_ would ever _consider_ fighting a Knight of Ren in close combat, let alone one-on-one.

And then, all at once, the incredulous anger in General Hux deflated in one breath as he suddenly realized that Kylo Ren had fought against the girl again -- or maybe Skywalker himself.

Hux knew how he should react to that, what he should think. To his mild surprise, other thoughts, other questions, sprang to mind first, ones he would never actually say aloud. 

Movement and light pressure snapped him back to his surroundings.

Ren held Hux's bare wrists in a loose grip and smoothly pulled, prying fingers frozen in place off of him. He let Hux slip away when he pulled back his arms on his own, taking a step back from Ren. The knight's hands paused in the air between them, and then instead of returning to his sides they went to his helmet. With a click and a swoosh, the constant barrier was removed and dark eyes steadily met light eyes for the first time in months.

Hux took in every detail he could in a brief second -- only allowing himself one full second -- before turning toward his desk and a compartment in the wall behind it. He had been right about the slash wound, a thin and remarkably clean scar trailing across Ren's face like it had always belonged there. He'd expected the pale skin, but the sweat-flattened dark hair appeared a bit longer. Hux didn't ponder further on that, though, because then he'd inanely wonder if Ren cut his own hair, which of course had to be the case considering how secretive he was of his appearance.

Hux found what he was searching for and showed it to Ren, who had only turned his head to watch him. The medical kit was small, but had everything needed to see to the knight's wounds without visiting the infirmary. The only catch was that the wounds would need time to heal naturally. As he set it on his desk and began pulling out supplies, Ren stepped to the opposite side and placed his helmet next to the kit. Then his gloves. His fingers nimbly undid the fastenings of his belt and tunic, which to Hux meant that he didn't have nerve damage in that arm, but his fluid movements became jerky as he slipped off the tunic from his injured side. He added it to the growing pile of clothing on Hux's desk and moved on to the tight-fitting shirt.

Ren silently struggled, and Hux pretended not to notice until he simply didn't anymore. He joined Ren on the front side of his desk and helped him get out of the shirt without jarring his collar bone too much. He held back a grimace as they worked together to peel cloth away from dried blood without causing fresh bleeding to start. Hux was careful to only touch the shirt, it ending up in his hands and he ending up putting it down half-heartedly folded.

The final barrier eliminated, Hux didn't give himself a time limit as he stared at Ren's arms and torso. His right hand reached for supplies and somehow found the right one to use first without his eyes' help. His left hand, however, reached for Ren. His fingertips lightly followed the smooth edge of the scar on his shoulder, but then flitted away to the jagged edge of the larger scar on his side and lingered there on the warm skin. Ren's ab muscles tensed and his scrutiny of Hux was so intense that he could feel its burn. Ren didn't move away, only drew the general's attention back to the present with a brief touch of his own to his forgotten right hand.

Hux blinked. Then he carried on to his self-appointed task as if nothing had distracted him. He sat on the edge of his desk while Ren remained standing, and got a closer look at the worse of the two injuries first. As Hux cleaned and disinfected, Ren watched with one hand resting on the table and the other acting as an assistant whenever a third hand was required.

The room was comfortably quiet. Strangely and unexpectedly, General Hux and Kylo Ren each thought to themselves.

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt (left anonymously): General Hux/Kylo Ren  
> The general is very protective of Kylo after seeing how vulnerable he looked bleeding on the snow. Tender scar touching please.  
> Originally posted [here](https://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/1082.html?thread=14906#cmt1492538).  
> I only own the writing.
> 
> For the curious... In the prompt's comment thread, I was embarrassed that I'd made up the word "infirmatory" ("infirmary" + "laboratory"). Although it's grown on me since then, haha, I've replaced the word here, as well as made some other tiny edits.


End file.
